What years did Willie Hernandez play?

Willie Hernandez played in Major League Baseball from 1977 to 1989.

Was Willie Hernandez a pitcher?

Yes. Willie Hernandez pitched in the major leagues, recording 70 wins and 788 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Willie Hernandez hit?

Willie Hernandez hit 0 career home runs with 13 hits.

What teams did Willie Hernandez play for?

Willie Hernandez played for 3 teams: the Chicago Cubs (1977–1983), the Philadelphia Phillies (1983), and the Detroit Tigers (1984–1989).

How many MVP awards did Willie Hernandez win?

Willie Hernandez won 1 MVP award, in 1984.

How many Cy Young Awards did Willie Hernandez win?

Willie Hernandez won 1 Cy Young Award, in 1984.

What awards did Willie Hernandez win?

Willie Hernandez won the MVP award (1984) and the Cy Young Award (1984). He was selected to 3 All-Star Games.

What were Willie Hernandez's career stats?

In 744 games, Willie Hernandez went 70-63 with a 3.38 ERA, 788 strikeouts, 1,044.2 innings pitched, and 147 saves.

What was Willie Hernandez's salary?

Willie Hernandez's last recorded salary was $1,310,000, in 1989. His highest recorded salary was $1,310,000, in 1989, and his lowest was $660,000, in 1985. The Salary History table lists each season from 1985 to 1989.

What position did Willie Hernandez play?

Willie Hernandez played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Willie Hernandez and how much did he weigh?

Willie Hernandez was listed at 6 feet 3 inches and 180 pounds.

What was Willie Hernandez's career ERA?

Willie Hernandez finished with a 3.38 career ERA, going 70-63 with 788 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Willie Hernandez have?

Willie Hernandez recorded 788 career strikeouts.

Willie Hernandez

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1977-1989)

Willie Hernandez was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1977 to 1989 for the Chicago Cubs, the Philadelphia Phillies, and the Detroit Tigers, a span of 13 seasons. Across 744 career appearances, he went 70-63 with a 3.38 ERA, 788 strikeouts, and 147 saves. Willie Hernandez was a 3-time All-Star, an MVP, and a Cy Young. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 10045.3.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated October 24, 2026

W–L 70–63

ERA 3.38

WHIP 1.25

SO 788

Pitcher PIV 10045.3

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: L / L
Height / Weight: 6'3" / 180 lb
Born: 11/14/1954 in Aguada, P.R.
Died: 11/20/2023 in Sebring, FL, USA
MLB Debut: 1977-04-09
Last Game: 1989-08-18
Awards: 3× All-Star · MVP · Cy Young

Full name: Guillermo Hernandez

📊 Compare This Player 📈 View Career Timeline

Career Pitching Statistics

Willie Hernandez — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
70	63	744	11	0	0	147	1044.2	952	392	97	349	788	3.38	10045.3

Career ERA 3.38 vs. league average 3.87 across their career seasons — 12.8% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Willie Hernandez Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1977	CHN	NL	8	7	67	1	4	110.0	94	37	28	78	3.03	4.00 (+24%)	1652.9
1978	CHN	NL	8	2	54	0	3	59.2	57	25	35	38	3.77	3.69 (-2%)	-1106.0
1979	CHN	NL	4	4	51	2	0	79.0	85	44	39	53	5.01	4.00 (-25%)	-667.0
1980	CHN	NL	1	9	53	7	0	108.1	115	53	45	75	4.40	3.84 (-15%)	588.4
1981	CHN	NL	0	0	12	0	2	13.2	14	6	8	13	3.95	3.58 (-10%)	387.0
1982	CHN	NL	4	6	75	0	10	75.0	74	25	24	54	3.00	3.86 (+22%)	2030.3
1983	CHN	NL	1	0	11	1	1	19.2	16	7	6	18	3.20	3.87 (+17%)	1003.4
1983	PHI	NL	8	4	63	0	7	95.2	93	35	26	75	3.29	3.87 (+15%)	1501.2
1984	DET	AL	9	3	80	0	32	140.1	96	30	36	112	1.92	3.81 (+50%)	4432.9
1985	DET	AL	8	10	74	0	31	106.2	82	32	14	76	2.70	3.89 (+31%)	1711.2
1986	DET	AL	8	7	64	0	24	88.2	87	35	21	77	3.55	3.97 (+11%)	344.4
1987	DET	AL	3	4	45	0	8	49.0	53	20	20	30	3.67	4.29 (+14%)	-857.5
1988	DET	AL	6	5	63	0	10	67.2	50	23	31	59	3.06	3.73 (+18%)	-643.1
1989	DET	AL	2	2	32	0	15	31.1	36	20	16	30	5.74	3.71 (-55%)	-332.8
Career · 14 seasons			70	63	744	11	147	1,044.2	952	392	349	788	3.38	—	10,045

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Willie Hernandez — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
747	63	4	13	2	0	0	3	2	1	29	.206	.219	.238	.457	0

Career AVG .206 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — 20.6% below league average.

Career OBP .219 vs. league average .325 across their career seasons — 32.6% below league average.

Career SLG .238 vs. league average .389 across their career seasons — 38.8% below league average.

Career OPS .457 vs. league average .714 across their career seasons — 36.0% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Willie Hernandez Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1977	CHN	NL	67	16	0	1	0	0	0	0	9	.062	—	—	—	—	0.0
1978	CHN	NL	55	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1979	CHN	NL	52	8	0	2	1	1	0	0	5	.250	—	—	—	—	0.0
1980	CHN	NL	53	19	0	4	1	1	0	0	7	.211	—	—	—	—	0.0
1981	CHN	NL	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1982	CHN	NL	75	3	1	0	0	0	1	1	3	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1983	CHN	NL	11	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	.500	—	—	—	—	0.0
1983	PHI	NL	63	13	2	5	0	1	1	0	5	.385	—	—	—	—	0.0
1984	DET	AL	80	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1985	DET	AL	74	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1986	DET	AL	64	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1987	DET	AL	45	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1988	DET	AL	63	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1989	DET	AL	32	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 14 seasons			747	63	4	13	2	3	2	1	29	.206	—	—	—	—	0

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Willie Hernandez — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Willie Hernandez — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AVG
1987	ALCS	DET	1	.000
1984	ALCS	DET	3	.000
1984	WS	DET	3	.000
1983	WS	PHI	3	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Willie Hernandez — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	0	10	0	3	13.2	9	2	2	7	1.32

Playoff Pitching by Year

Willie Hernandez — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1987	ALCS	DET	1	0	0.1	2	0	0	0	0.00
1984	ALCS	DET	3	1	4.0	3	1	1	3	2.25
1984	WS	DET	3	2	5.1	4	1	0	0	1.69
1983	WS	PHI	3	0	4.0	0	0	1	4	0.00

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1491 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Willie Hernandez — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	369	34	2	6	0	1	.176
Away	378	29	2	7	0	2	.241

Pitching — Home / Away

Willie Hernandez — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	367	536.2	486	208	193	410	3.49
Away	377	508.0	466	184	156	378	3.26

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Willie Hernandez — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1989-08-18	DET	NYY	—	1.0	1	2	2	1	1	1
1989-08-13	DET	TEX	SV	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0
1989-08-12	DET	TEX	SV	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0
1989-08-08	DET	MIL	SV	2.0	2	0	0	1	3	0
1989-07-07	DET	TOR	L	0.0	2	3	3	1	0	1
1989-07-06	DET	NYY	—	1.1	1	0	0	0	1	0
1989-07-03	DET	BAL	—	1.0	2	0	0	1	0	0
1989-06-25	DET	SEA	—	1.0	2	1	1	0	1	0
1989-06-14	DET	BOS	—	1.0	3	1	1	0	1	0
1989-06-10	DET	TOR	—	0.2	2	2	2	1	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Willie Hernandez — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	744	11	58	169	4	12

Season-by-Season Fielding

Willie Hernandez — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1977	CHN	P	67	1	8	27	0	2
1978	CHN	P	54	0	2	12	0	0
1979	CHN	P	51	2	4	11	1	0
1980	CHN	P	53	7	12	20	0	2
1981	CHN	P	12	0	0	3	0	0
1982	CHN	P	75	0	5	22	1	1
1983	CHN	P	11	1	1	4	0	1
1983	PHI	P	63	0	1	13	0	2
1984	DET	P	80	0	5	14	0	1
1985	DET	P	74	0	7	7	1	0
1986	DET	P	64	0	6	13	0	0
1987	DET	P	45	0	2	4	1	1
1988	DET	P	63	0	3	15	0	1
1989	DET	P	32	0	2	4	0	1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Willie Hernandez Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	745

Awards & Honors

Willie Hernandez — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1984	Cy Young Award
1984	Most Valuable Player
1984	Pitcher of the Month	July
1984	TSN All-Star	LHP
1984	TSN Pitcher of the Year

Salary History

Willie Hernandez's recorded salaries total $5,200,000 over 5 seasons, 1985 to 1989. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Hernandez's career ran from 1977 to 1989. His seasons before 1985 are not included.

Willie Hernandez — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
1989	DET	AL	$1,310,000
1988	DET	AL	$1,210,000
1987	DET	AL	$1,060,000
1986	DET	AL	$960,000
1985	DET	AL	$660,000
Total recorded salary (partial)			$5,200,000

Award Voting History

Willie Hernandez — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1984	Cy Young Award	AL	1st	88.0	140	12
1984	Most Valuable Player	AL	1st	306.0	392	16

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Willie Hernandez (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Compare Willie Hernandez

Browse all MLB player comparisons →

Willie Hernandez: the record in brief

According to the bio, Willie Hernandez debuted on April 9, 1977 and played a final game on August 18, 1989. Club by club, the record runs the Chicago Cubs (1977 through 1983), the Philadelphia Phillies (1983), and the Detroit Tigers (1984 to 1989). Hernandez played primarily as a pitcher and batted and threw left-handed. The bio adds a birth date on November 14, 1954, in Aguada, P.R. and a listed size of 6'3" and 180 pounds. Hernandez's death is recorded on November 20, 2023, in Sebring, FL, USA. The given name on file is Guillermo Hernandez.

The pitching table credits Hernandez with a 70-63 record and a 3.38 ERA in 744 games. Hernandez had 788 strikeouts and 147 saves. The leagues Hernandez pitched in allowed 3.87 earned runs per nine over those seasons, so the career ERA was 12.8% better than average. No season topped the 9 wins of 1984. Hernandez saved 32 games in 1984, the season high.

Frequently Asked Questions about Willie Hernandez

What years did Willie Hernandez play?: Willie Hernandez played in Major League Baseball from 1977 to 1989.
Was Willie Hernandez a pitcher?: Yes. Willie Hernandez pitched in the major leagues, recording 70 wins and 788 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Willie Hernandez hit?: Willie Hernandez hit 0 career home runs with 13 hits.
What teams did Willie Hernandez play for?: Willie Hernandez played for 3 teams: the Chicago Cubs (1977–1983), the Philadelphia Phillies (1983), and the Detroit Tigers (1984–1989).
How many MVP awards did Willie Hernandez win?: Willie Hernandez won 1 MVP award, in 1984.
How many Cy Young Awards did Willie Hernandez win?: Willie Hernandez won 1 Cy Young Award, in 1984.
What awards did Willie Hernandez win?: Willie Hernandez won the MVP award (1984) and the Cy Young Award (1984). He was selected to 3 All-Star Games.
What were Willie Hernandez's career stats?: In 744 games, Willie Hernandez went 70-63 with a 3.38 ERA, 788 strikeouts, 1,044.2 innings pitched, and 147 saves.
How much did Willie Hernandez earn in his career?: Willie Hernandez's recorded salaries total $5,200,000 over 5 seasons, 1985 to 1989. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Hernandez's career ran from 1977 to 1989. His seasons before 1985 are not included.
What was Willie Hernandez's salary?: Willie Hernandez's last recorded salary was $1,310,000, in 1989. His highest recorded salary was $1,310,000, in 1989, and his lowest was $660,000, in 1985. The Salary History table lists each season from 1985 to 1989.
What position did Willie Hernandez play?: Willie Hernandez played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Willie Hernandez and how much did he weigh?: Willie Hernandez was listed at 6 feet 3 inches and 180 pounds.
What was Willie Hernandez's career ERA?: Willie Hernandez finished with a 3.38 career ERA, going 70-63 with 788 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Willie Hernandez have?: Willie Hernandez recorded 788 career strikeouts.